Dual Cam Controlled Reel Tines

ABSTRACT

A dual-cam linkage system controls the orientation of tines on a reel of a crop harvesting header. The dual-cam linkage system includes a stationary, substantially circular first cam track that has a rotational center that is offset from the rotational axis of the reel. A second cam track is located in a support plate on which a tine-supporting member is mounted. The dual-cam linkage system also includes a pivoting linkage having a crank, an arm. The crank has a first end fixedly attached to the tine-supporting member. The arm has an outer end attached to a second end of the crank. The first cam follower is attached at an inner end of the arm and engages the first cam track. The second cam follower is attached to the arm at a position between the first cam follower and the crank and engages the second cam track.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a national phase application of international patentapplication number PCT/US2013/075982, filed Dec. 18, 2013, which claimspriority to U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/740,519, filed Dec.21, 2012. The full disclosures, in their entireties, of internationalpatent application number PCT/US2013/075982 and U.S. provisionalapplication No. 61/740,519 are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

This invention relates generally to a reel on a crop harvesting header,and more particularly to a mechanism that varies the angle of tines onthe reel as the reel rotates.

2. Description of Related Art

Crop harvesting headers include a cutter bar and a reel utilizing aplurality of tines of fingers for controlling movement of the crop inthe area over the cutter bar. A crop harvesting header can be used in avariety of different crops with varying conditions such as green, tough,lying down, wet, or tangled. Desirably, the reel needs to be able tofunction in all these crop situations to feed the crop uniformly intothe harvester.

Typically, the reel is rotatable about an axis generally parallel to thecutter bar and has a plurality of reel tubes spaced around the axis of acenter tube. Each reel tube has several tines projecting generallyradially outward from the reel axis that interact with the crop throughdifferent zones around the reel. The tines first need to pick up anycrop that is laying down and push any crop that is standing across thecutter bar. Then, once the crop has been cut and is being carried ontothe platform, the tines need to release the crop so that it doesn'tcarry the crop out of the header. Finally, the reel tines need to flipover as they go around the top of the reel so that crop does not wrap onthe reel tubes. Each reel tube typically pivots about its axis parallelto the reel axis so as to vary the angle of the tines about the tubeaxis as the reel rotates.

It would be desirable to improve the pivotal movement of the tube andthus the tine path through the different tine path zones.

OVERVIEW OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment, the invention is directed to a crop harvesting headerhaving a header frame structure arranged for movement in a direction ofworking movement across ground carrying a crop to be harvested such thata cutter bar arranged across a forward edge of the header framestructure can cut the crop, and a reel for controlling movement of thecrop in the area over the cutter bar. The reel is mounted on the headerframe structure for movement therewith in the direction of movement andfor rotation about a center reel axis. The reel has a plurality oftine-supporting members at spaced positions around the reel axis so thatrotation of the reel causes the tine-supporting members to follow a pathof movement around the center reel axis. Each tine-supporting member hasa plurality of crop-engaging tines, wherein each of the tine-supportingmembers is pivotable about its respective axis, which axis is parallelto the reel axis, so as to vary the angle of the tines as the reelrotates. A dual-cam linkage system controls an angular orientation ofeach of the plurality of tine-supporting members and the tines mountedthereon.

The dual-cam linkage for each of the plurality of tine-supportingmembers includes a stationary, substantially circular first cam trackthat has a rotational center that is offset from the rotational axis ofthe reel, wherein said first cam track is used to change the angularorientation of all of the tine-supporting members. A second cam track islocated in the support plate on which the tine-supporting member ismounted, wherein each tine-supporting member has a dedicated second camtrack. The dual-cam linkage system also includes a pivoting linkagehaving a crank, an arm. The crank has a first end fixedly attached tothe tine-supporting member. The arm has an outer end attached to asecond end of the crank. The first cam follower is attached at an innerend of the arm and engages the first cam track. The second cam followeris attached to the arm at a position between the first cam follower andthe crank and engages the second cam track. Rotational movement of thereel causes the dual-cam linkage system to change an angular orientationof each of the plurality of tine-supporting members and the tinesmounted thereon.

These and other features and advantages of this invention are describedin, or are apparent from, the following detailed description of variousexample embodiments of the systems and methods according to thisinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above mentioned and other features of this invention will becomemore apparent and the invention itself will be better understood byreference to the following description of embodiments of the inventiontaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an end elevation of a header according to the presentinvention looking along the header toward one end and showing the reel,reel support arms, tine-supporting members;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the reel of FIG. 1 showing only thecomponents of the reel and reel support arms, with only two of thetine-supporting members and associated components shown for convenienceof illustration;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the reel of FIG. 2 looking from theopposite direction; and

FIG. 4 is an end elevation of the reel of FIG. 1 looking from theopposite direction and showing only the components of the reel and reelsupport arms, with only one of the tine-supporting members andassociated components shown for convenience of illustration.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding partsthroughout the views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

The invention will now be described in the following detaileddescription with reference to the drawings, wherein preferredembodiments are described in detail to enable practice of the invention.Although the invention is described with reference to these specificpreferred embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is notlimited to these preferred embodiments. But to the contrary, theinvention includes numerous alternatives, modifications and equivalentsas will become apparent from consideration of the following detaileddescription.

In FIG. 1 is shown an embodiment of a header according to the presentinvention with a number of the elements being shown schematically sincethe general construction of such headers is well known to one skilled inthe art. The header 10 includes a header frame 12 extending between twoend frames one of which is shown at 14 and the other of which at theother end and therefore not visible in the elevation of FIG. 1. Theheader frame 12 is suitably supported and attached on a propulsionvehicle in a manner so that the header 10 can be moved forwardly acrossthe ground in cutting a standing crop. The header 10 carries a pluralityof structural elements such as for a draper or auger conveyor arrangedto transport the crop after cutting to a discharge location in thecenter of the header 10 that are not shown for convenience ofillustration as they are well known to one skilled in the art and canvary in accordance with engineering considerations. Additionally, as iswell known in the art, a cutter bar provides a cutting action on thestanding crop so that the crop is deposited on the conveyor fortransportation to the discharge location. When used on a combineharvester, the discharge location of the header 10 is associated with acrop transfer system which transfers the crop rearwardly into a feederhouse of the combine. Headers 10 of this type can of course also be usedas a swather where the discharge location simply discharges the croponto the ground in a swath or through a crop conditioner onto theground.

The header 10 further includes a reel generally indicated at 20. Thereel 20 includes pivotable mounting arms 22 that project forwardly fromthe frame 12 to a position over the end frame elements 14 so as toprovide support for the reel 20. As is known in the art, each arm 22 ismovable in its pivotal action by a suitable drive actuator. The numberof arms 22 can vary in accordance with engineering requirementsdepending upon the width of the header 20. Some headers 20 have onlyarms 22 at the ends and some have additional arms intermediate the endsto provide the necessary support.

Turning now to FIGS. 2 and 3, the reel 20 comprises a center tube 24,broadly a center support structure, extending along the length of thereel 20 and providing structural support therefore. As best seen in FIG.2, a shaft 26 is suitably attached within the center tube 24 as a stubshaft portion which projects from an end of the center tube 24 formounting of the center tube 24 on the arm 22 and supporting the centertube 24 for rotation about an axis 26A of the reel 20 as known in theart. The reel 20 further includes end support discs 28, broadly endstructures, mounted on the shaft 26 at ends of the center tube 24. Itwill be appreciated that the structural arrangement of the discs 28 canvary in accordance with engineering requirements without departing fromthe scope of the invention.

Turning also now to FIG. 4, in the illustrated embodiment each supportdisc 28 comprises a peripheral ring 30. The ring 30 carries a pluralityof support plates 32 at spaced positions around the axis 26A of the reel20. Each support plate 32 extends generally outwardly to a distal end 34outboard of the peripheral ring 30 where the plates 32 support aplurality of tine tubes 36, broadly tine-supporting members, atangularly spaced positions around the axis 26A of the reel 20. Each tinetube 36 is mounted with a bearing assembly 38 in an end cup 39 at thedistal end 34 of the plate 32. While the illustrated embodiment has aplurality of plates 32 positioned around the peripheral ring 30 of thesupport disc 28, one skilled in the art will understand that the plate32 may be configured to support more than one or even all of the tinetubes 36. In the embodiment shown, the tine tubes 36 are cylindricaltubes on which is attached a plurality of longitudinally spaced tines 40which project outwardly from the tube 36 for engaging the crop. Tines 40may be of conventional design and may be attached to the tine tubes 36using any means known in the art so further discussion of the tines 40need not be contained herein.

Each tine tube 36 pivots about its own individual axis 36A so as tochange the angular orientation or position of the tines 40 as the tinetubes 36 rotate through different zones around the reel 20 as best seenin FIG. 1. According to the invention, the angular position of the tinetube 36 about its axis 36A relative the reel axis 26A is controlled by adual-cam linkage system 50 so that as the reel 20 rotates each tine tube36 through the different zones about the reel 20 while moving throughthe field, the dual-cam linkage system 50 pivots the tine tube 36 tomove the tines 40 to a desired angular orientation.

The dual-cam linkage system 50 has a first cam track 52 used to controlmovement of each of the tine tubes 36. Desirably, the first cam track 52is substantially circular and has a rotational center that is offsetfrom the axis 26A of the center tube 26 as best seen in FIG. 4. In theillustrated embodiment, the first cam track 52 is fixedly attached tothe arm 22 of the header 20 on the outside of the plates 32 so that itdoes not rotate with the reel 20.

The dual-cam linkage system 50 has a plurality of second cam tracks 54,with each tine tube 36 having its dedicated second cam track 54 locatedon its respective plate 32. Desirably, the second cam track 54 has anon-linear shape as will be described below in more detail.

Each tine tube 36 has a dedicated tube-pivoting linkage 55 interfacingwith the first and second cam tracks 52, 54. In the illustratedembodiment, the tube-pivoting linkage 55 includes a crank 56 fixedlyattached to the tube with an arm 58 attached to the crank 56. As can beseen from FIG. 1, the tine tube 36 is attached at a first end of thecrank 56 and the arm 58 is attached at an opposite end. Since the tinetube 36 and thus the first end of the crank 56 is pivotably attached inthe end cup 39 of the plate 32, movement of the arm 58 attached at thesecond end of the crank 56 is turned into pivoting movement of the crank56 and thus the tine tube 36 about its axis 36A.

The arm 58 has a first cam follower 60 attached thereto at a first endopposite the end attached to the crank 56 and a second cam follower 62attached thereto at a position between the first cam follower 60 and thecrank 56. The first cam follower 60 is positioned in the stationaryfirst cam track 52 and moves in a circular motion around the first camtrack 52 as the reel 20 rotates. As the center of the first cam track 52is offset from axis 26A of the center tube 26, rotational movement ofthe first cam follower 60 around the first cam track 52 changes thedistance of the arm 58 from the center axis 26A. This change in radialdistance from the axis 26A provides a pushing or pulling action on thecrank 56 so as to pivot the tine tube 36 around its axis 36A. Thenon-linear shape of the second cam track 54 manipulates the action ofthe arm 58 and the attached crank 56 as the first cam follower 60 goesaround the first cam track 52 to control the angular position of thetine tube 36 and thus the tines 40. The shape and arrangement of thesecond cam track 54 is calculated so as to provide a desired tine actionbased on the position of the second cam track 54 in the plate 32 andsize and shape of the crank 56. In the example embodiment, the secondcam track has an “S” shape. Movement of the second cam follower 62 inthe “S” shaped second cam track 54 forces the first cam follower 60towards the center of the reel 20.

Thus, the dual-cam linkage system 50 controls the orientation orposition of the tine tube 36 relative to the respective tube axis 36A tocause pivotal movement of the respective tube 36 about the tube axis 36Aand thus, for each of the positions, to move the tines 40 of the tube 36around the tube axis 36A to a desired orientation relative to a planepassing through the center reel axis 26A and the tine tube axis 36A. Thedual-cam linkage system 50 allows for the tines 40 to stay extendedwhile the tines enter the crop, carry the crop across the cutter bar,and then release the crop onto the platform of the header 10. Thedual-cam linkage system 50 also allows for the tines 40 to flip overwhen they are not in the uncut crop to help prevent the crop fromwrapping around the tine tubes 36. In one embodiment, the orientation ofthe tine angle in the different reel zones can be adjusted to accountfor different crop conditions by manipulating the fixed position of thefirst cam track 52 on the arm 22 so that the angular position of thetines 40 as determined by the dual-cam linkage system 50 is changed.

The foregoing has broadly outlined some of the more pertinent aspectsand features of the present invention. These should be construed to bemerely illustrative of some of the more prominent features andapplications of the invention. Other beneficial results can be obtainedby applying the disclosed information in a different manner or bymodifying the disclosed embodiments. Accordingly, other aspects and amore comprehensive understanding of the invention may be obtained byreferring to the detailed description of the exemplary embodiments takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

What is claimed is:
 1. A crop-harvesting header for use with anagricultural harvesting machine, the header having a reel positioned inthe forward part thereof for manipulating a crop to be harvested, thereel comprising: a center structural member extending along the lengthof the reel, the center tube being rotatable about an axis of the reel;an end support structure on at least one end of the center structuralmember; a plurality of support plates attached to the center tube atspaced positions around the axis of the reel, each plate having a distalend extending outwardly of the end support structure; a plurality oftine-supporting members at angularly spaced positions around the axis ofthe reel, each tine supporting member being mounted at the distal end ofone of the plurality of support plates, wherein the tine-supportingmembers have a plurality of tines that project outwardly for engagingthe crop; and a dual-cam linkage system configured to change an angularorientation of each of the plurality of tine-supporting members and thetines mounted thereon, wherein the dual-cam linkage system for each ofthe plurality of tine-supporting members comprises: a first cam trackthat has a rotational center that is offset from the rotational axis ofthe reel, wherein said first cam track is used to change the angularorientation of all of the plurality of tine-supporting members; a secondcam track located in the support plate on which the tine-supportingmember is mounted, wherein each tine-supporting member has a dedicatedsecond cam track; a pivoting linkage, wherein each tine-supportingmember has a dedicated pivoting linkage, the pivoting linkagecomprising: a crank, the crank having a first end attached to thetine-supporting member; an arm, the arm having an outer end attached toa second end of the crank; a first cam follower attached at an inner endof the arm, the first cam follower engaging the first cam track; and asecond cam follower attached to the arm at a position between the firstcam follower and the crank, the second cam follower engaging the secondcam track; wherein rotational movement of the reel causes the dual-camlinkage system to change an angular orientation of each of the pluralityof tine-supporting members and the tines mounted thereon.
 2. The headerof claim 1 wherein the first cam track is substantially circular anddoes not rotate with the reel.
 3. The header of claim 2 wherein thefirst cam follower moves in a circular motion around the first cam trackas the reel rotates with rotational movement of the first cam followeraround the first cam track changing the distance of the arm from thecenter axis of the reel.
 4. The header of claim 3 wherein the change inradial distance of the arm from the reel axis provides a pushing orpulling action on the crank so as to pivot the tine-supporting memberabout its axis.
 5. The header of claim 1 wherein the crank is pivotallymounted on the arm.
 6. The header of claim 1 wherein the crank isfixedly attached to the tine-supporting member.
 7. The header of claim 1wherein the second cam track has a non-linear shape.
 8. The header ofclaim 7 wherein the non-linear shape of the second cam track manipulatesthe action of the arm and the attached crank as the first cam followergoes around the first cam track.
 9. The header of claim 8 wherein thesecond cam track has an “S” shape.
 10. The header of claim 7 whereinmovement of the second cam follower in the second cam track forces thefirst cam follower towards the center of the reel.
 11. The header ofclaim 7 wherein movement of the second cam follower in the second camtrack forces the first cam follower towards the center of the reel.